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Queen Elizabeth I

A "Virgin Queen"?

Conflict with Mary Queen of Scots

Summary

Right from the start, the shrewd Sir William Cecil served
as Elizabeth's chief Secretary of State. In 1571, Elizabeth named
him Lord Burleigh, moved him to the position of Lord Treasurer,
and replaced him as Secretary of State with the more cutthroat
but nevertheless loyal Francis Walsingham. The talents of Burleigh
and Walsingham, and Elizabeth's ability to work productively with them,
were perhaps the most crucial strengths of Elizabeth's rule. And
even Elizabeth's more minor advisors, including Gresham, a financial
advisor as stingy as Elizabeth, were talented and valuable.

Elizabeth and Burleigh did not always get along, however.
Although she had already signed Mary Queen of Scots's death-warrant,
when Burleigh pushed through the execution ahead of schedule to
"spare" the queen some emotional hardship, Elizabeth became outraged
and banished him from her presence. But while she constantly argued
with him and sometimes abused his good nature, in the end she said
of him, "No Prince in Europe had such a counselor."

Francis Walsingham, Elizabeth's second key advisor, was
quite different from Burleigh, but also extremely capable. A fanatical Protestant,
Walsingham did not have nearly the same personal admiration for
Elizabeth that Lord Burleigh had. Nonetheless, Walsingham had
a powerful sense of duty and was so utterly devoted to England
as a nation that he served Elizabeth with supreme loyalty. Although
they did not see eye-to-eye on all matters, Elizabeth replaced Burleigh
with Walsingham as Secretary of State in 1572, making him her most
crucial advisor. Walsingham specialized in organizing spies.
He built an intelligence network that kept Elizabeth aware of many
of the most secret plots and machinations throughout both England
and Europe. Although Elizabeth found his fanatical Protestantism
distasteful, this flaw was more than outweighed by Walsingham's
ability as a master of espionage.

Where Walsingham's skills failed him, however, was in
his attempted orchestration of a marriage between Elizabeth and
the Duke of Anjou. Afraid that Anjou might marry Mary Queen of Scots
instead of Elizabeth, he considered this a Protestant duty: he wanted
to create an English-French alliance that would protect the Protestant
Netherlands from Philip II's bloody rule. Walsingham even managed
to get Leicester on his side in the matter. Yet Elizabeth continued
to fool everyone on the question of marriage, and pretended to
consider Anjou's proposal before finding grounds to reject it.

Around 1585, it was Walsingham's spy network that picked
up on Mary Queen of Scots' secret return to Scotland. Ingeniously, Walsingham
intercepted the messages she was sending hidden in beer barrels,
deciphered them, and unearthed the Babington Plot against Elizabeth.
This information proved Mary Queen of Scots' treason, which allowed
Elizabeth to sign a death warrant against her. When Leicester
reported to Walsingham that Elizabeth had received a letter from
the condemned Mary that made her cry, Walsingham got together with
Burleigh to push the actual execution through before the Queen
had a chance to change her mind.

Commentary

Elizabeth was an especially intelligent ruler. However,
many intelligent rulers try to do all the work without assistance
and surround themselves with incompetent people who will offer
mere sycophantic praise rather than true advice. Elizabeth was
not prey to this failing, and recognized the need to surround herself
with able and shrewd advisors who would be willing to disagree
with her when she was wrong. Her willingness and ability to make
use of talented advisors, particularly Lord Burleigh (William Cecil)
and Francis Walsingham, was one of the factors that most contributed
to the "greatness" of her reign. While she worked herself very
hard, she demanded even more sustained effort from her advisors,
several of whom she worked to the point of ill health.

Early on, the only thing Burleigh and Elizabeth never
could seem to agree on was the issue of marriage. Burleigh believed
that marriage, and the production of an heir, was absolutely essential
future of the kingdom. But Elizabeth simply used his earnestness
in the matter to her advantage: she would direct foreign delegations
to Burleigh, and, after talking to him, many suitors and their
representatives believed Elizabeth eager--even desperate--to marry.
This helped Elizabeth keep her suitors in pursuit of their impossible goals.
Like Elizabeth, Burleigh valued caution and prudence. However,
he did not have the same obsessive fear of decisive action that
often paralyzed Elizabeth, and he sometimes argued with her over
the necessity for action, such a when he advocated sending an army
and aid to help in the overthrow of Mary of Guise. Burleigh never
could quite come to grips with the situation between Elizabeth and
Leicester, since he detested the man and yet remained devoted to the
Queen. Still, Burleigh was always horrified by Elizabeth's scandalous
and indecent conduct with Leicester. Studious and serious, Burleigh
was one of the few men who had a purely professional relationship
with Elizabeth; she directed no flirtation directed towards Burleigh.
In 1571 he entered into retirement, which, despite a lifetime
of hard work and service to the Queen, he managed to enjoy. Of
his time as Elizabeth's advisor, Burleigh said, "My service hath
been but a piece of my duty, and my vocation has been too great
a reward."

Walsingham and Elizabeth also disagreed on several substantial issues.
A fanatical Protestant, Walsingham disagreed with Elizabeth's
policy of mildness and conciliation towards English Catholics.
While Elizabeth wanted England to stay free of entangling European
alliances that could drag the nation into war, Walsingham fervently
believed that England had a religious duty to make alliances with
Europe's Protestant powers and fight a crusade against Catholic
nations like Spain. Furthermore, Walsingham argued from the beginning
of his tenure that if English Protestantism was to be protected,
Mary Queen of Scots would have to die, in contrast with Elizabeth's
hesitancy and tendency to wait. Walsingham worked so tirelessly
that he often drove himself into illness.